Merry Christmas!

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Bits and Pieces

We have been completely engrossed in moving, unpacking, meeting neighbors, etc and I have barely had time to blink, let alone the energy to type. Still, I wanted to share a few snippets of our life the past few weeks.

• Out of nowhere, Lauren suddenly loves school. This is a huge step for her since she had been screaming at the top of her lungs every time I handed over to her lovely teacher. I was told that it didn't last long after I left, but I still felt terrible. Her screams are the most ear piercing thing I have ever heard. Now? She grabs her lunch box, walks from the front door to her classroom, and happily hugs her teacher ("Keeeem!" aka: Ms. Kim) and sometimes even spares a second to wave goodbye to me. She also loves to call out to her classmates. "Ink un!" (Lincoln) "Ay laa!" (Layla) "Dom ash!" (Thomas) It's super sweet.
  
  
• One of the funniest things she has done lately, which is saying a lot because this child is hilarious, is telling us she has to go potty, running to the bathroom, and then pulling her shirt up while she stands facing the toilet, just like her brother. This is always followed by "wash hands?" and she skips on her merry way. She woke up dry from a nap one day so I put her on the toilet and she actually went, but I'm hoping guessing that was a complete fluke. I'm not ready to head down that road, yet, although I'm afraid she's going to force me. Sigh...
  
  
• Brenden just finished a fourth round of antibiotics for double ear infections that just will not go away. I took him to see the doctor that placed Lauren's tubes and removed her cyst and he agreed that it was time for Brenden to have tubes as well. They scheduled us for Friday so we won't have to wait long. (Merry Christmas, Brenden...some tubes in your ears!) I'm not sure how it will go since he can understand so much more than Lauren, but I do know that he is very excited about the chocolate ice cream (his choice of rewards) for being brave and listening. I just hope he feels better soon. So hard to see him sick all the time.
  
  
• Speaking of doctor's appointments, we've had several the last few weeks for both kids. I always dread taking them both into a waiting room because I end up chasing them, always going different directions, and looking like the crazy mom that can't control her children. Amazingly, they have both been rather well behaved, listened, and played well with each other at every appointment. Brenden sat quietly while Lauren's stitches were removed and Lauren sat in awe while Dr. Guy showed us Brenden's ears with a video camera. (It was pretty cool.) I know the awful 2's are coming and the horrendous 3's will follow, but right now I'm going to enjoy these happy sibling moments while they last!
  
  
• They've become rather close, at least on occasion. Lauren is always anxious to pick Brenden up from school so she can give him a big hug. Brenden gets really concerned when Lauren is upset, especially while we're eating. He has started offering her food from his plate, making funny faces, and whispering to her to calm her down. (He also claims her screams hurt his ears, which I totally understand.) I just hope that the happy moments when they are laughing at each other greatly outnumber the arguments and spats.
  
  
• December 9th was a huge day for us when it comes to the new house. (Pictures when we actually feel moved in!) We had the blinds installed, cable/internet/phone installed, and the refrigerator delivered. The funniest guy was the blinds installer. He sang to the kids, joked around with them, and even did a great job of putting up the blinds. The Cox guy was also really nice and felt REALLY bad when he managed to drill a hole through our wall (twice) instead of through the beam he was aiming at. I could not stop laughing when it happened because it was just so ridiculous to see a long orange wire sticking out of our wall and the look on his face was priceless. He even thanked me for not getting angry. It worked out in the end since they are going to repair it and we also got a free new wireless router. Score!
  
  
• Remember when I said that Lauren was our "serious child"? Remember when I thought she'd be slightly outgoing, but not nearly as friendly as Brenden? Oh my gosh, was I ever wrong. She is the most friendly, outgoing, charming, energetic, comical, independent child I have ever met. She's talking up a storm and loves to interact with anyone and everyone. Just today she sat across from a couple at a birthday party and spent the entire lunch saying "Nice to meet you" and shaking their hands, talking to them about her pizza, and singing "Happy Birthday" as loud as possible. She has no problems tilting her head, smiling and turning her baby blues on anyone and more often than not it works.
  
  The best story lately: We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for grandpa Mike's birthday. (Happy birthday, Mike!) She was sitting on her grandma Connie's lap, playing on her phone when she suddenly looked up and whined, "Awww, it's chicken!" Everyone, including the guy who was waiting for a to-go order, busted up laughing. She then proceeded to stand as close to his phone as possible with a questioning look on her face. To my surprise, he locked it, and handed it right over. Of course, she knows how iPhones work so she had it unlocked and was playing Angry Birds in about 3 seconds.
  
  She spent dinner alternating between shoving as many boneless chicken wings dipped in ketchup in her mouth as possible and dancing with her grandma. We are never lacking for entertainment around here. 

Ours!

Completely, 100%, for better or worse, our house. It only took 129 days between deciding this was what we wanted to do and signing all 124,209,574 papers that legally made us the owners. In all honesty, this whole process was MUCH easier than I expected. We had very few issues and have been extremely happy with how it has turned out. 

I still cannot believe we'll be moved in before Christmas. Merry Christmas to us!

A few pictures I took yesterday of OUR house. Insane. :) 

Playing in Lauren's closet.

Lauren's room.

Brenden's room.

Kid's bathroom.

Laundry room.

Dining room.

Living room.

KITCHEN! :)

Towards the nook.

 And now, the fun part. Moving! *sarcasm, so much sarcasm*

 

Dear Santa....

Brenden is getting better and better at his handwriting, but he's still not quite up to writing an entire letter to Santa, even if it's only just a few words. Instead, we decided to have him draw what he'd like Santa to bring him and when we mentioned that Lauren wasn't big enough to draw her own pictures he happily drew some for her as well. He told me how he would like them labeled and then I helped him spell "Dear Santa".

He needed help spelling Lauren's name, but he signed his name all on his own.

You better believe these are going in a memory book. :)

"Dear Santa"
The left one says "Brenden" and the right is "Lauren".

"Big Pillow Pet with Thomas on it."

Top: "Light Saber with Blue"
Bottom left: "Little Pillow Pet with Thomas on it."

Center: "Dora Pillow Pet"
Top right: "Boots Pillow Pet"

Bye, bye knot!

First off, I just have to say THANK YOU to everyone that had us in their thoughts and prayers today. I had no idea how very anxious I was about the whole thing and it really calmed me down knowing there were so many people with Lauren on their mind. We are all relieved to have the hardest part, the surgery, behind us and I think she's well on her way to recovering nicely.

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(All sorts of words about how we found out about the knot, the first results, realizing that the first diagnosis probably wasn't right, pictures of the crazy knot, the cat scan, and the final results that led to her surgery today.)

Once again we found ourselves up bright and early headed to Hillcrest with Lauren. As usual, she was her happy bubbly self, singing and laughing all the way there. Checking in was quick and the pre-op was easy since it was exactly the same as the pre-op for her tubes. The main difference was the fact that she can walk now, but she surprised me by staying very close to us and not freaking out about being there again. She calmly went to one of the nurses and waved bye bye to us without any tears.

That's when the weight of all the worrying really hit me. It was terrifying to think about what they were going to have to do to remove that knot. I expected it to feel like the minutes were barely creeping by, but the hour and a half went very quickly. Dr. Guy came out to get us himself and said that it went about as well as it could. The cyst was completely removed, as well as her hyoid bone, which will all be biopsied. There was very little bleeding, a very small incision, so she didn't need a drain, which would have meant she was going to be admitted to the hospital at least overnight.

She wasn't completely awake when we went back and they had just given her some more medicine so she could relax. She was moaning a bit in her sleep but that was much easier to deal with than the ear piercing screams after her tubes and cat scan. It took about an hour before she really started waking up and she stayed drowsy all morning.

I'm still surprised at how small the bandage is and that it doesn't seem to bother her as much as I expected. She's asked us to take the tape off several times, which really just breaks my heart. She was also starving but we were told she was only allowed liquids and pureed food, and the packets of applesauce and smooshed bananas really weren't cutting it. I imagine she'll jump up and down tomorrow when she's allowed a cracker.

We had a very relaxed day and Lauren and I are going to take it easy tomorrow and Sunday, as well. I expect we will watch Pocoyo, Little Einsteins, and Elmo at least 294 more times, but as long as she's calm, I'm happy!

Daddy makes a good footrest.

I'm so thankful that everything went so well and that it's over. Now to focus on all the happy things. New House! (Closing scheduled for Tuesday!) Christmas! A new (to us) car!

Oh, you didn't know we got a different car? Guess I'll have to write about that later. :)

Brenden-isms/Lauren-isms

These children...they slay me. :)

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Lauren: *opens lunchbox that I told her not to*

Me: *snatches lunchbox*

Lauren: *cries* "NO! That's MINE! Not nice!"

Me: "I told you not to open it. Sorry."

Lauren: "Give it back!"

Me: "Sorry, kiddo." *thinks: Did I seriously just get into an argument with my 19 month old?!*

(On one hand, I'm super impressed that she has the vocabulary to have a conversation with us. And on the other, I just do not even want to be around when she's a teenager arguing with me.) 


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Brenden's new favorite saying has become, "Hey you guuuuuys!" It's equally funny and annoying at the same time. I thought for sure it was from The Goonies, although I have no idea why I thought that since he's never seen it. He's also taught Lauren to say it, which is actually pretty cute as long as I'm not on the phone or trying to order food at a drive thru.

It has also morphed into new phrases, said with just as much enthusiasm and volume. They include, but are not limited to:

"Hey you gorillaaaaas!"

"Hey you mommy/daddy/Brenden/Lauren!"

"Hey you sillyyyy!"

"Hey you ________!" (Insert word that Brenden knows he's not supposed to say so he whispers it and possibly get in trouble.)

He's been playing the Electric Company on pbs.org (I thought it was pbs.com and he quickly informed me that, "No, mommy. Not .com, pbs.org. Again, the teenage years are going to be...interesting.) Apparently, they totally stole "Hey you guuuuys!" and have been teaching it to the children of children of the 80's, totally confusing us as well as driving us crazy.

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Lauren's new found obsession is ketchup, which cracks me up. I finally had to move it to the top shelf of the refrigerator because she kept grabbing it and dragging it around with her.

She will dip anything into it, which is why the other night she had rice and vegetables with ketchup for dipping. 

I cannot get enough of her little personality.

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Brenden, used to being our main performer and center of attention, could not be outdone. So, while we were driving home talking about school he started singing, which is not out of the ordinary. However, his choice of song was so out of left field that I called Tim and made Brenden sing it to him. Then I made it sing it again when we got home:

Oh. My. GOOOSH. I think we need to talk to his teachers about their taste in music. ;)